Kaye report: No crime

Published 12:10 am, Thursday, July 29, 2010

Gov. David Paterson is criticized in the Kaye report for lack of judgment in an alleged domestic violence case involving a key aide, now suspended.

Gov. David Paterson is criticized in the Kaye report for lack of judgment in an alleged domestic violence case involving a key aide, now suspended.

Kaye report: No crime

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ALBANY -- It was Feb. 24, and amid rumors of a bombshell expose, Gov. David Paterson knew the final nail in his political coffin was beneath the hammer.

"They're trying to make it look like I pressured you into dropping this court case. Please help me," the governor told Sherr-Una Booker, the ex-girlfriend of Paterson's aide David Johnson, in a voice mail. Paterson had just been informed that a New York Times story questioning his contact with Booker, who had pursued domestic violence charges against Johnson, had appeared online.

"Um, I mean -- I was trying to find out about the rumors involving myself," Paterson said of their previous communication. "You placed the call to me around 10 minutes to four on Sunday, February the 7th -- it was the day of the Super Bowl. And, um, in the conversation, we just talked about the things that -- that -- you didn't say anything about me, and I didn't say about you."

The text of the voice mail left on Booker's phone was revealed Wednesday in a report released by the office of the Attorney General but supervised by independent counsel Judith Kaye, the state's former chief judge. The report said Paterson and some gubernatorial aides made "errors of judgment" but did not act criminally, and that there was no evidence that the State Police or Paterson's staff interfered with the New York City Police Department's response to the alleged Oct. 31, 2009 domestic incident between Johnson and Booker.

Nevertheless, Kaye's report noted that the administration did not cooperate fully with the investigation, and that "evidence revealed potential risks inherent in the relationship" between administration staffers, the Troopers assigned to protect the governor and the State Police as a whole.

The report shows interactions between Johnson and Maj. Charles Day, the head of the Executive Services detail assigned to protect Paterson. At Johnson's request -- but with the acquiescence of superiors -- Day contacted Booker immediately after she called 911 to report her altercation with Johnson.

Day had further contact with Booker the next day, using conversations with her and police databases to determine if any order of protection or arrest warrants had been issued against Johnson. Day told investigators he acted "to protect the office of the governor," and believed Booker could retaliate against Johnson in a way that might hurt the governor.

"No policy or procedure required Day to do so," the report says, noting "it is a violation of State Police protocol and (database) regulations to access a criminal history without a legitimate investigative purpose."

Darren O'Conner, chief counsel for the State Police, said internal affairs investigators "will investigate the specific findings in the report, and appropriate action will be taken." Superintendent Harry Corbitt and his successor, Pedro Perez, both resigned in the wake of this matter, as did Division of Criminal Justice Services Commissioner Denise O'Donnell, who said she could not "in good conscience" continue in her position amid the allegations that some troopers were involved in contacting an alleged victim of domestic violence.

The report punctuates the end of the most tumultuous period of Paterson's administration, in which the unfolding incidents it chronicles forced the governor to abandon his election campaign a week after it began and led to calls for the governor's impeachment and resignation.

At a meeting in Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon, Paterson declined to comment on the report, saying he had not yet had a chance to review it. Campaign finance documents show Paterson paid at least $700,000 to attorney Theodore V. Wells for his legal defense.

It's unclear whether there will be additional fallout for Paterson. His electoral bid over, most Democrats said the governor should be allowed to stay on the job through the remainder of the year. Kaye was also charged with investigating another matter pairing Johnson and Paterson: The allegedly improper acquisition of Yankees tickets and subsequent false statements made by both men.

"He was innocent until proven guilty, and based on what the report states, he is as he always stated: He did nothing wrong," said Sen. Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn. "Making poor judgment is not a crime in America unless you break the law."

But others note the hypocrisy in Paterson's situation, given a long record of fighting for victims of domestic violence. According to Michele McKeon of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the fact that he was not charged underscores problems in the law.

"It adds to the frustration," she said. "This case, as in many other high profile cases, highlights the experience of domestic violence victims every single day. Whether it's the governor of the state of New York, or the mother of a batterer, or the sister of a batterer, they seem to get away with it."

Which is why Booker, according to her attorney Ken Thompson, is seeking to press charges again against Johnson.

"As the report showed, Ms. Booker never wavered and told the truth from beginning to end," Thompson said. "And it's important that all she ever wanted to do, and is still looking to do, is to hold David Johnson accountable for what he did to her."

Jimmy Vielkind can be reached at 454-5081 or jvielkind@timesunion.com.